Love Makes Life Longer
by Florencetheflowerfairy
Summary: [My collection of Sorato drabbles and vignettes] Stories of love between Sora, Yamato, their friends, and their families throughout the entirety of their lives, from childhood to old age.
1. Eleven Roses

_Digimon Adventure does not belong to me._

* * *

 **Eleven Roses**

"Yamato!" Sora almost jumped in surprise, but jumping would have hurt her back. While she was healthy for her age and still took long walks every night, even Takenouchi Sora seemed a little tired these days. She smiled, and the wrinkles around her eyes became more pronounced. She had smiled so many times throughout the years. "What is this?"

Yamato climbed the stairs to his wife. Tall, thin, his hair completely white, with the same wise blue eyes. A cane in his right hand and a bouquet of roses in his left hand. Yes, Yamato had aged well.

"Happy Christmas Eve, my love," he said in his familiar baritone. He presented the flowers and kissed her forehead.

"Ah, Yamato…" Sora smelled the red roses. "They're beautiful."

"Twelve roses for the most beautiful woman in the world."

The woman laughed. "There are eleven roses."

"There… What?"

"There are eleven roses. Look."

"I bought twelve!" Yamato frowned and counted the flowers in her hands. "Eleven…" Yamato hit his forehead. "I'm an idiot."

"Don't worry about it, dear."

"I should have counted them in the store. I'm not so old that I can't count anymore! There should be twelve, as is customary, and as December is the twelfth month in the year."

"Don't be dramatic. They're beautiful and I love them. We made friends when we were eleven years old, and I plan to live with you until we are one hundred and eleven.

Yamato sat by her side and took her hand. "Sora, I will not live as long as you."

"Shh." Sora squeezed his hand. "Love makes life longer."


	2. I didn't know we were keeping track

**23\. "I didn't know we were keeping track."**

 _See my profile for the complete list of drabble prompts._

* * *

Toshiko was washing the dishes when she heard her daughter laughing outside. She immediately stopped moving to listen. And there it was, a baritone voice. A strange deeper laugh accompanied the beloved higher laugh. Then she heard her daughter say "Bye" and the apartment door opened.

"Hi Mom!" Sora entered the kitchen and smiled. Her hair was messy and her white tennis uniform was a little dirty. She put her backpack on the table.

Toshiko didn't blink. "Yamato walked you home again?"

"Yeah." Sora waved her hand nonchalantly.

"This is the tenth time this month that Yamato has accompanied you here."

"I didn't know we were keeping track!" Sora snapped.

"Is he kind to you?"

"Of course!"

"Why don't you invite him inside the next time?"

The girl blushed. "Well…"

"I'm not that terrifying, right?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Tell this boy that he shouldn't feel intimidated by me. I want to know him better. He's important to you, yes?"

Sora stared at her mother with the clean plates frozen in her hands. Her mom didn't smile that often. She was like Yamato in that way. But now, Sora realized that her mother was actually nervous, behind her severe expression. She was like Yamato in that way too. Yamato didn't intimidate Sora, and neither did her mother.

"Yes. He's very important to me." Sora smiled again, and her mother smiled back.


	3. Second biggest news

**44\. "Well that's the second biggest news I've heard all day."**

 _See my profile for the complete list of drabble prompts._

* * *

Yamato lay stretched out on the couch, eyes closed, breathing slowly. He still had the TV remote in his hand, and Gabumon was asleep on his lap. The clock on the wall rang twelve times. Gabumon heard it and opened his eyes, but there was nothing to see apart from his tired friend in his black leather jacket. Another romantic comedy was playing on the television. Gabumon observed that Yamato still hadn't wiped off the mark of red lipstick on his cheek. He smiled and didn't move, because he didn't want to wake Yamato from his happy dreams.

Then the door slammed open and a raspy voice shouted, "Yamato!"

Yamato woke with a start and Gabumon sighed.

"It's only your dad."

Yamato blinked and quickly turned off the romance on the TV. "Evening, Dad…"

"Yamato! Are you all right?" Hiroaki dropped his coat on the floor and leaned over the couch to see his son.

"Yes, I'm—"

"I saw on the news that a tyrannosaurus rex almost ate you! And ghosts!" Hiroaki waved his arms like a windmill.

"Yes, well, these things happen."

"The tent was collapsing! You could have died!"

"Wait, if you saw me on the news, does this mean that you heard the song I wrote after all?" Yamato petted his companion's fur, and Gabumon noted that he was smiling at his father.

"I only heard your band scream in terror!"

"Oh." Yamato's smile vanished.

"I tried to get home faster, but there were so many accidents on the road because of those digimon. Too much traffic. I finally left my car, but the subways weren't working. I started walking, but then I got into an argument with a police officer who wouldn't let me cross the street. It was outrageous! I have more experience with digimon than him!

"See, Yamato? Your dad was worried about you!" Gabumon interrupted. Hiroaki jumped, as if he hadn't processed that the big hairy creature on top of his son was a digimon.

"Oh yeah, Gabumon is home!" Yamato smiled again and moved so that he could hug his partner. "Sorry for not introducing you again. But you remember him, right?"

Hiroaki bowed respectfully. "Hello Gabumon. Of course I remember you. Thank you for taking care of my son so that dinosaurs didn't eat him."

"It's nothing!"

"And thank you for spending time with my son on Christmas Eve when I wasn't here."

"It's nothing." Gabumon blushed.

"What I mean is, I'm sorry for being such a terrible father tonight. Are you sure you're all right?"

"It's fine, Dad. I'm fine," murmured Yamato. "Actually, I'm…really, really, really happy." Yamato laughed in a high voice and touched his cheek, hiding the small red mark.

Hiroaki nodded. "Good. Very good." He ruffled the boy's blond hair. "Well…I'm tired and I need to rest."

"Wait!" Gabumon shouted. "Yamato needs to tell you something important!"

Hiroaki turned pale. "Seriously? What happened?"

Yamato turned red. "It's nothing…"

"What happened, boy?!"

"Yamato!"

"It's just…" Yamato stared at the celing. "Sora told me that she loved me." He closed his eyes and couldn't stop smiling.

Hiroaki raised his eyebrows. "Takenouchi Sora?"

"Yes, the only Sora I know."

"What did you tell her?"

"I…" Even Yamato's ears were scarlet. "I told her that… It's not important what I said!"

"They're dating now," Gabumon explained. Yamato hit the digimon's face with a pillow.

Hiroaki nodded. "I see. Well, that's the second biggest news I've heard all day."

"The second biggest?!" Yamato suddenly lost his temper.

"A tyrannosaurus tried to eat you, son!"

"But that's normal! Tyrannosauruses try to eat me all the time! Even Taichi has one! I see dinosaurs and ghosts and giant bugs and phoenixes and werewolves every week. But for someone like Sora—a wonderful, incredible, kind person like Sora—to tell me that she _loves_ me…That's not normal at all!" Yamato realized that he was shouting and hid his face beneath the pillow.

Hiroaki was quiet for a minute, and then he laughed. "Of course. You're right. Forgive me. I lost perspective. That's incredible news. Sora is my favorite of your friends, besides Gabumon. Did you know that? I'm very happy."

"Mmffhnngfffmm," Yamato said beneath the pillow.

"I'll leave you alone then. Good night, Yamato. Can you play your song on the guitar for me tomorrow?"

Yamato murmured incomprehensibly. Gabumon nodded. Hiroaki chuckled and left. As soon as the man closed the door to his room, Yamato tossed the pillow and hugged Gabumon again, smiling like he only did when nobody was watching.

Sora loved him.

Sora loved him.


	4. A wife, two kids, and a Harley

**58\. "I'm just a guy with a wife, two kids, and a Harley."**

 _See my profile for the complete list of drabble prompts._

* * *

"Gabumon, look!"

Gabumon looked at where his partner was pointing. There was a brilliant blue motorcycle in the street. Yamato had a giant smile on his face, the kind that he reserved for when they were alone.

"I bought it this morning! Isn't it beautiful?" Yamato continued.

"Yamato, did you spend all your money on this?"

"Isn't it beautiful?" Yamato insisted.

Gabumon huffed. "You worked so hard for your money, but you bought this useless…"

"Gabumon!"

"Why did you buy a motorcycle? You can always ride on Garurumon!"

Yamato stopped smiling. "Gabumon, did I hurt your feelings? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. You're my best friend." He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Look, you can ride on the motorcycle with me!"

With that, Gabumon laughed, and Yamato smiled in relief.

"Fine, fine, it's beautiful," Gabumon said. "But isn't that thing expensive?

"Yes, of course. But it was worth it. I'm a simple man. I only need three things in this life to be happy. Besides you."

"What three things?"

"One: I need a Harley." Yamato hugged his new toy.

"That's great! You already have one of the three things!"

"Two: I want a child."

"Yamato! You're only seventeen!"

"I know, I know. But I know I want one in the future…Actually, I should have two children. I don't want one to be lonely."

"Then you actually need _four_ things to be happy, besides me."

"Yes! A Harley, two children, and a spouse."

"A spouse?"

"Yeah. Um, a companion. A lover. A friend forever."

"I know what a spouse is, Yamato. A Sora, right?"

"Um…well…" Yamato blushed. "I know that I'm being ridiculous. I'm only seventeen."

Gabumon hugged the boy. "You're not ridiculous at all. You simply know what you want. I want the same things for us."

"Thanks, Gabu." Yamato petted his head.

"…Well, you are a _little_ ridiculous for buying this motorcycle."

"We're going to ride. Don't argue." Yamato put a helmet on the digimon's head, and the two friends drove off onto the streets.


	5. Do you think I could ever replace you?

**102\. "Do you really think I could ever replace you?"**

 _See my profile for the complete list of drabble prompts._

 _For this story, I used **Natsichan** 's headcanon names for Sora and Yamato's children._

* * *

BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM.

"Ruriko?" Yamato knocked on the door.

BAM. BAM. BAM.

He regretted buying the girl a drum set. "Ruriko! Stop this noise NOW!"

The banging stopped immediately. In its place, Yamato heard his daughter beginning to sob. The man closed his eyes and sighed. He knew that his strict voice was terrifying. Even more than Sora's. "Ruriko…" He slowly opened the door.

The small girl was sitting behind her drum set. She rubbed her eyes and didn't look at her father. "I'm sorry, Daddy…"

Yamato knelt in front of her so that they were eye-level. "It's okay, daughter. I'm not angry at you. Are you all right?"

Ruriko hiccupped. "I'm…fine…" She sobbed.

"Really?" Yamato didn't move. He didn't want his daughter to bottle up her emotions.

"It's …" She finally met her father's eyes. "Do you and Mommy love Tomohisa more than me?"

"No," he answered abruptly. He caressed her blonde hair. "We love Tomohisa, but not more than you. Never more than you. Do you really think we could ever replace you?"

The girl blushed and shook her head.

"Tomohisa is a baby, so he needs a lot of attention. Mommy is tired all day. We can both help her, right?"

Ruriko nodded. "Did I wake up Mommy?"

"Yes."

Ruriko cried, and Yamato winced.

"She's fine! She's fine. Don't worry about it. You can play your drum kit tomorrow. I love to hear you play."

"Really?"

"Yes. I played the harmonica all the time in my room when I was your age. We're the same." He smiled, while he thought of how his music must have driven his father crazy. But if Hiroaki could be patient, then so could Yamato.

"Thank you." Ruriko smiled, and Yamato's heart melted.

"Of course. And now, sleep. Please." He picked up the girl by her waist and put her in her bed. She giggled. Yamato smiled at her and walked back to the door.

"Daddy! I promise that I love Tomohisa too!"

"I know you do." And that was all that her father said before leaving the room.


	6. Hold my hand so he gets jealous

**142\. "Hold my hand so he gets jealous."**

 _This story was requested by_ _ **nikanaka**_ _on tumblr. Thank you Nika!_

 _See my profile for the complete list of drabble prompts._

* * *

Yamato grabbed the microphone stand in both hands and danced across the stage. The Teenage Wolves were performing their final song of the evening, and it sure was a crowd pleaser. Sitting in the back row with Taichi and Koushiro, Sora could see her classmates ahead of her cheer for Yamato's band, for his songs, for his voice. The sight made her heart swell with pride. Yamato had always been so self-conscious about his music. Sora still remembered how timid he was when he first sang for her in elementary school. It was easiest for the boy to simply play harmonica for his close friends, but Sora encouraged him to play for more people. Now she watched how her reserved friend came alive on stage while performing for the whole school.

Sora sprung to her feet before he finished his final note and started clapping. Taichi jumped up after her and hollered. Koushiro waited until a few more students got up, and then joined in the standing ovation. Sora called Yamato's name and wondered if he could hear her amidst all the other high voices. He was smiling but he wasn't looking in her direction.

After the Teenage Wolves left the stage, Sora was still clapping until Taichi coughed.

"Let's go pick up Mr. Rock Star," Taichi said, leading the way down the bleachers. "Then you can keep clapping and he'll be able to hear you!"

"Maybe I will," Sora retorted. "They sounded so good!"

"Yeah. He has a lot of fans now. He's probably tired though," Koushiro observed.

"Too tired to celebrate with ice cream?" Taichi asked.

Koushiro grinned from ear to ear. "He better not be."

Sora ran ahead of the boys, eager to surprise Yamato with a hug. Then she stopped. There was already a group of a half-dozen girls standing by the backstage door. The door opened and she could only see the top of Yamato's blond hair while the girls surrounding him squealed. Taichi caught up to her and laughed. Sora bit her lip.

"It's not funny," Sora insisted. She knew that Yamato worried that people only cared about him for his looks. So he was surely feeling uncomfortable. Then she heard Yamato's familiar deep laughter, and she swallowed, second-guessing herself.

"Don't worry. I'll go rescue him." Taichi smiled at her and continued walking forward. Sora sighed as he pushed his way through the small crowd. Then she stood on tip-toes to try to see.

Koushiro was standing just behind her. He looked between Sora and the group of loud people up ahead. "Um…You know…"

Sora blinked and turned to face him.

"You can hold my hand so he gets jealous," Koushiro whispered.

Sora's eyes widened and then she finally laughed. Out of all people, for Koushiro to say that! She knew that she should be embarrassed, but she was impressed by his intuition and brazenness.

"Um…" Koushiro trailed off, not knowing how to respond to that. Then the two redheads saw Taichi dragging Yamato from the crowd, followed by the other Teenage Wolves. Sora immediately grabbed Koushiro's hand.

"Sora—!" Yamato cut himself short when he saw them.

"I'm here too," Koushiro stated. Taichi snickered.

"Yamato, you sounded _wonderful_ ," Sora said.

"Thank you," Yamato murmured, turning red. He was staring at his friends' hands. He furrowed his brow, looking deeply confused. "I'm sorry that I made you guys wait…"

"It's not your fault! The Teenage Wolves have a lot of fans and that's awesome." Sora also found herself blushing.

"But Sora is your best fan!" Koushiro interjected.

Yamato winced and Taichi laughed louder. Sora again thought that she ought to feel more embarrassed, but she knew how hard it was for Koushiro to speak up, and she was honestly pleased at his sincere attempt to help her. She squeezed his hand and let him go.

"I _know_ that," Yamato asserted, and Taichi mercifully restrained laughing. (Though Koushiro kept smirking.)

"We were wondering if you'd all like to get ice cream to celebrate?" Sora asked. Yamato's bandmates stopped chatting amongst themselves to yell in approval.

Yamato nodded. "That's great. I'll pay."

"You don't need to do that!" Sora said. "If anything, the three of us can split up paying for your band. It's our treat—"

"I want to buy you ice cream!" Yamato interrupted loudly.

It was like her worries evaporated in the moonlight. Sora ignored her other giggling friends and finally surprised Yamato with her hug. She could buy him a treat some other time.

And maybe she owed Koushiro too.


	7. One Night Stand

**47\. "I thought it was a one-night-stand…and now we're married…"**

 _This story was requested by_ _ **meliia2**_ _on tumblr. Thanks Meliia!_

 _See my profile for the complete list of drabble prompts._

* * *

Sora opened her eyes and adjusted her head on Yamato's arm. When she felt comfortable, she glanced at the man lying beside her. He was already fast asleep, his lips slightly parted, his chest slowly moving up and down. Sora smiled and wrapped her fingers around his hand.

She knew that Yamato was a light sleeper. He always had been. When they were children trapped in the Digital World, Yamato consistently had the most trouble getting rest at night. He would always volunteer to take watch, and sometimes he would play his harmonica, or go on walks with Gabumon. It was still nice to see him sleeping peacefully now, even years later.

After all, Sora understood better than anyone that the Dark Cave's nightmares never went away.

"I thought it was a one-night stand…" Yamato murmured.

Sora blinked twice. "What?"

"And now we're married…" Yamato trailed off into a loud snore.

Sora's smile widened and she resisted laughing out loud. Yamato was sleep-talking! He had never done that before! At least not with her. Maybe Gabumon or Hiroaki would have funny stories.

"What are you dreaming, love?" Sora whispered. She had never thought of Yamato as a 'one-night stand.' Even during their first time, she believed that there would be more nights together. Sora giggled as she tried to imagine what melodramatic situation Yamato's dreamland had conjured up for the two of them. An impulsive night of passion, maybe in a hotel, maybe even in the Digital World—and then a wedding the next day!

That is, assuming that Yamato _was_ dreaming about the two of them. Sora would have to remember to embarrass him in the morning. _Were you cheating on me in your dreams?_

Actually, what startled Sora most wasn't the 'one-night stand' part, but the 'married' part. Yamato had only just moved in with her last week. Neither of them was in a hurry to get married. Yamato in particular often complained about what an annoying institution marriage was, which Sora understood, given his childhood. He liked repeating statistics of how marriage norms were sexist and homophobic and unfair to children. Sora was less likely to complain in general, but she was proud that the bearers of Love and Friendship didn't need an official stamp on their relationship. They didn't want anyone's approval but each other's.

If Yamato was dreaming about an impulsive marriage, was that his subconscious revealing nervousness about their relationship? Was he afraid that they were moving too fast? That he and Sora might turn into his brash parents and fall apart? Maybe Sora shouldn't tease him after all. Maybe the silly melodrama in Yamato's dream was an extension of his real fears…

Yamato suddenly snorted and held Sora tighter, pulling her closer.

"Ah!—" Sora gasped. She lost her comfortable spot, and their faces were almost pressed together. She could see him drooling.

Sora finally laughed. Wow, she was really overthinking things, wasn't she? There was no reason to believe that Yamato was unhappy. If anything, Sora was probably projecting her nerves onto him.

After all, Sora was the one having trouble falling asleep tonight. She always had been a light sleeper.

Sora readjusted her head in the crook of his arm. She gently wiped the saliva off of his lips with her finger. Yamato was such a beautiful man. She felt entirely too lucky to have him. He even found ways to comfort her when he was sleeping.

Sora closed her eyes. "Do you want to get married? Or do you want to have lots and lots of one-night stands, forever…" She murmured. She would love him just the same either way. Now that her nerves were subsiding, her heart beat slower, and her breathing relaxed.

Yamato smiled.


End file.
